Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday for not allowing the Tamil Nadu parliamentarians to raise the issue of Tamil language. He termed the Speaker’s move as an “absolute insult” to the people of Tamil Nadu.

“The people of Tamil Nadu were disrespected in Parliament today when the Speaker refused to allow a supplementary question on the Tamil language. I strongly protest this injustice done to the Tamil people and the disregard for established practises and traditions of Parliament” Congress leader said.

Rahul Gandhi narrated the yesterday’s incident in the Parliament and said, “Yesterday I asked a question about the 50 largest wilful defaulters. The procedure is if you ask a question then you are allowed a supplementary question.”

The people of Tamil Nadu were disrespected in Parliament today when the Speaker refused to allow a supplementary question on the #Tamil language. I strongly protest this injustice done to the Tamil people & the disregard for established practises & traditions of Parliament. pic.twitter.com/S5RSdBztig

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 17, 2020

Further attacking the speaker Om Birla, he said Lok Sabha Speaker does not want him to speak in the House.

“I am an MP and I have certain rights that he can’t take away. But today the entire Tamil people wanted to ask the question over the Tamil language. He snatched the rights of the MPs during the debate on language,” he said.

“Tamil, which has a history and which is in their DNA, Speaker did not allow them to ask questions. It’s an attack on their language, their rights. This is unacceptable and is an absolute insult to the Tamil people,” he added.

He further said the Parliament has become a “loudspeaker” as it is now one-way traffic in the House. “Nowadays there are no discussions, no one is allowed to ask questions,” he said.

Congress leader also took a sharp jibe at the BJP-led central government on the economic slowdown by saying, “It is like a tsunami is coming. India should be preparing itself not just for coronavirus but for the economic devastation that is coming. I am saying it again and again. Our people are going to go through an unimaginable pain in the next 6 months.”

Yesterday, Reserve Bank of India Governor, Shaktikanta Das had said there will be an impact on the Indian economy due to the deadly novel coronavirus, as India is integrated into the global economy.

RBI governor told that sectors such as tourism, airlines, hospitality, and domestic trade and transport are suffering the loss of activity.